streets surround my studio

New jewellery (Martina)

Hi everyone,

I have something new to show you!! At last.. It's been very *quiet* on this blog for some time now. You have not given up on this project, have you? My energy is very low this time of year and my working process is slower than ever. It's not going fast but at least it's going forward. I have continued with my woodwork. Take a look at the images I posted in october and then compare them with these..




brooch seen from front, side and back

I think I might have some kind of hoarding tendency when it comes to making jewellery: )

Title: fantasy no.1 (Paula)

Idea: To use everday things mixed with flea market stuff and do things thatpeople can recognize... May be not for the first time they are looking onit, but when they have look at it for awile...

Material: Deocan, porcelainbear, plasticbeads, mold plastic, agate. (deoflaska, porslinsbjörn, plastpärlor, formbar plast, agat)

//Paula

This is an project in constant movement…

This is an project in constant movement…

The on-line jewellery project; consumer society started in February 2005.
It started with an idea and question to jewellery artist around the world.

The idea was that jewellery artist/designers could sit in there own hometown, studios and workshops, and be in a (internet) relation to other as well… That everyone is working with there own things, against the same subject; flee market stuff, garbage, recycling materials etc.
That everyone is doing the own interpretation of the consumer society/culture.
The project was built up with the idea that we all could communicate at the internet with eight other… That we could use the internet, to show what we were doing and hear what other think about our work, thoughts etc.

This was not an easy part!
When I started this project I thought that everyone has the same energy as I against this…
I have one idea that this project was a way to do what I want (and what other wants to do to…). Do my own things against some kind of subject, together with others, but still alone…
The jewellery world is built up with a lot of different competitions; you have to compete with other colleges.
I don’t like the idea that “every time” you want to show what you have done, you have to get the luck to “win” some competition… You need the galleries and other people’s thoughts about things… (this is my generalize).
This project has no censure; we can show our things at other places than galleries if we want, we can do it our own way… (I hope).

We started to communicate at our e-mail addresses, that was not an easy way…It takes time with sending images and so on to everyone.

BUT, then in September Anni, one of the members started the blog!
A new start on this project!!! An easy way to communicate, to see and take part!

The blog has got to be an art piece in it self. It’s a good way to see the process, the way everyone thinks about the consumer society, the consumer culture. What’s we all are inspiration in, in the way to work as jewellery artist/designers against this subject.

It ´s a nice way to get a general view over what everyone is doing, thinking etc.


At first we were 12 jewellery artist/designers in this project.
But now has 4 left the project, of different reasons…

For the moment we are 8 persons who are active in this project.
8 jewellery artist/designers who want to do this, which got the time and energy and in the end want to show our things on some place in every town, city, country we live in.

So keep on communicate, show inspiration images, things you are doing and come up with.
Send the blog further to other people, jewellery artist/ designers etc.

The next deadline is 9th January 2006.
Everyone should been ready physical, everyone should have done 3-5 pieces about the subject, some text about what you have donned, who you are… Or what ever?!

One of the ideas in this concept was that we would do some kind of paper for this project, some kind of info who we could give to galleries etc.
Now we got the blog, and that a nice way to show what we are doing and what the physical resulted is.

After the deadline we all take contact with different places, to find places to show our project.

Keep on communicate with eight other during the time…

fascinating stories..

Some weeks ago I passed a shop with the text "shopping therapy" on the window. Shopping as therapy seems to be both common and accepted as well as encouraged. Wich surprises me. Looking into the world of "consumerism" there are a lot of things to be surprised about and fascinated by. Stories about hoarding for instance. I'm sure you've all heard one before. If not;

"The San Diego Humane Society reported that last year there were five major cases of animal hoarding. These five cases involved a total of more than 245 animals. These hoarders became so focused on acquiring animals, and had so many, that eventually they were not able to properly provide for these animals, or for themselves. And they failed to recognize this as a problem." Read more at http://eldercare.uniontrib.com/news/denise/hoarding.cfm


The picture tells the story?
"Basically, 2,000 kilos of rubbish were removed in late August from the apartment, at no. 13 where I once lived"...
I found this at www.puertadelsolblog.com

paula

Hi.
I have been in contact with Nääs konsthantverk. Just a short visit…
I will contact them again when everyone has something to show on the blog.
I have left our address to the blog and hope they will look at it.
You can look at the website: www.naaskonsthantverk.se

This is an interesting project in two ways... First we got the blog as a communicating area, that’s for it self an art piece... Then we have the last and final thing; to show what’s coming out from this on-line project.

So keep on working and use the blog for communicating!
Now it is people out of the project who taking part, and look, thinking about what we are doing and how we are thinking about the consumer society in some kind of jewellery world.

gila sayes hallo

hi everybody! better late than never! I think a lot about desires for material things. Nothing matches real powershopping, a nice kick, mabye the old hunters and collector instinct drives me and makes the blod run faster.
There is also another side of the collecter storie, how I/we store all the old things. The attig is a good place, you get the things out of side, you can get it back when you need it (instead of giving it up, you never know if it suddently could be usefull.. in a possible project ?)....the problem is unfortunatly that you gather so much that it makes it allmost impossible to find anything when you do need it again!
I saw this programe on the tv, about a woman in a former east european country. She had made a fortune in selling junk/scrap...the junkqueen she was called. I vondered ..how does a junkqueens crown look like? i think i try to answer that in my project!
Glad to see all the good things going on !

Bst rgds
Gila

more information from the wall

A soft broche inspirated from this photo taked it from the wall near my studio
I want to explain that the wall has been painted in pink colour and now Is impossible to put on advertisement

Inspiration images (Paula)

Some more inspiration images…For the moment I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do… (Or may be some kind of idea anyway…)I have collected pieces of graffiti paintings in a legal graffiti area hearin Gothenburg. (Röda Sten). I think this is interesting pieces, because it’s both nature and culture init, and its many peoples work in one small piece. The graffiti is also somekind of comments to the society we live in, there the public room is filledup with commercial adverting posters etc. everything in the public room whotell us how we gone live, what we need to buy etc. I think that graffiti is a good comment of the society, I don’t know if Ialways like it, but it’s still some kind of reflection of who is running thepublic room and why…Also that people who painting graffiti want to bee seeing… To be a part ofthe society, in some how…I have also try to melting down my hair shampoo caps, just to see what’shappened…I like to melt it down, but I don’t want to melt it so you can’t see what itis, that’s not my point of view. I want that people and my self couldrecognize what it is in the beginning…I will work further with this to things, the graffiti and the hair shampoocaps. I will put these things into the jewellery world.I have collected hair shampoo caps and other plastic caps to, because Ithink the have interesting shapes, and they have been used to somethingbefore I clean them up…Every product in our society is selling a lifestyle more than it’s a goodproduct that you actually needs. That’s an interesting point of view Ithink… Everything is about life styles, who you want to be???After my trip to South Africa and the Cape Town I will finish my jewelleriesfor this project, now I’m just collecting interesting things, ideas,thoughts etc.

About my first pictures (Martina)

Hej everyone.

I were in a hurry when I posted my pictures. That's why I left out all information about them. I'll give you some now. The images in my previous post shows what I've been working on lately. Image no. 1 is an inspiration-picture, a detail of an old redpainted candelholder. The others show my own woodwork. I have mostly reused old un-painted wood that I've painted, then made the paint come off, painted again and so on.. The worn out look of my work is mainly fake. For the moment this consumer project is all about finding out more about my own relations to objects like some specific belongings of mine (the few ones I would hate to lose). But also objects in general. I chose to work with wood because I wanted a material where age/time/handling clearly can be seen and felt. I imitated (sort of) the "used look" simply to compare it with something authentic and to find out more about my attitude towards them. What I might do next is to take a closer look at old things vs. new things.

My first pictures (Martina)

My first thoughts (Mar)

The first time I heard the name of this project, "Consumer society project", the idea of this concept that came to my mind automatically was not a positive one.
This project could simply be a criticism of our society, but on the other hand, we could treat it as a reflection or solution for consumerism.

What it is to consume:
1. to finish with something
2. to eat or drink something
3 to acquire

The action of consuming is an ambiguous one. People consume in order to acquire, but at the same time they empty something (like the supermarket’s shelf or the forest). This is a circle without shape, isn’t it?

Many sociologist have said that consumerism is the sickness of our day.
What are people fooling themselves into thinking they are buying, only necessities?
The accumulation of unnecessary objects is something without sense.
Although the best solution to solve this problem would be to understand or think about what we really need, recycling being a good example of how to go against it.
Recycling does not mean only to transform the rubbish, it also means to reproduce something that is just as useless. Or there is another current verb more appropriate for our work: customise. To customise is what we can do with our old stuff; change their image or their function.

So, dear jewellers, why are we looking for new materials to work with? Perhaps our grandmother’s, our neighbour’s, or our friend’s jewels can be materials themselves waiting for a transformation.
MAR

sas

another image

this is piece of burned pine wood with melted plastic.

First visit... (Sarah)

Hi all...
I haven't forgotten you or this project and now finally I am here.

Like many of you, I am looking at the evidence of consumer culture.
Let me say, that although I know it can be sinister, I love consumer culture. Sometimes.

But I do love stuff and accumulation (to look at, not to live with).

For now I am starting locally, at the local dump. So many discarded things, and yet so much possibility. Potential. That is what intersts me.

Sarah T.

floating!!!! (Marta)

Hi every body
this is a new idea
Plastic melted
It ´s floatting jejjejje

paula (about the project)

Hi.

I have a question (Martina has already asked…)
How often are you checking your e-mail or checking the Blog?
Its a little bite interesting to know, because if this project will go on, you have to communicate over the blog, so all other could see what’s on.

* personally I check may e- mail almost everyday…

I have already got some response of this blog from people outside the project.
For the moment it’s just good and nice response!
- a interesting project… Love Jönsson
- a interesting project, I will tell the student in HDK at the jewellery apartment about this blog and project. Gunilla Grahn
- I like the avocado stuff. Dan Helgesen
- tell me more… Susie Siverland

I think WE are going into something interesting, something that can expand and develop further if everyone take this on –line project serious and take some time for this communicating way.

So dear jewellery on – line project friends,
keep on working and please tell the others what’s on!

This is a project about the consumer culture, and everyone has a interesting way to solve this, and put it into the jewellery world.

For me jewelleries are a little bite as “talk- about”, signs; to show others, who I’m and so on…
It’s not necessary that it will be exclusive materials and that are a little my point of view in this project… It’s possible to create with recycling materials, garbage’s etc.
As Anni said; I dig there I stand… That’s a nice point of view, I think.
Because we all have something near by to work with… If we got the curiosity, the creativity and the idea to tell something and create something about it, the ideas and the materials that come in our way…

paula; avisen & inspiration photos

Hi!
I have send the blog to www.avisen-avk.com as a link.
You find it under Member news.


Inspiration photos:

Image from the wall (Marta)

These pictures are taken near my studio.
There is a lot of information on the walls ( Paper with glue )
This part of the city is a comercial area
On this door, I have found faces looking at me.
they are telling us something?
Something different if you take off the paper?
How do we consume information?
How do we consume paper?
How do we consume trees?

is it not enough with newspapers or internet?
is it necesary to put on the walls papers and take it out once,twice, again and again?
.....

Love Actually (Marta)

They were on the street ,looking at me

and I thougth, who are they?

She love him?

Two hearts on movement with brightness on it

Mineral Pyrite inside plastic melted Toy

The on-line jewellery project (Paula)

I’m a collector and a consumer ( may be a over consumer?!), no doubt!

I collect almost everything… I’m a little bite like Pippi Long stocking( collecting “good to have things”, you never know when you can use it…), I’m collecting; garbage’s as avocado shells who I’m drying and put other things in, as small tins… Other seeds, plastic cans, plastic bags and so on…
I collecting free postcards, books, cd´s, magazines, ugly dolls who I find in flea markets, deo balls, sugar cubs from different parts of the world, photos of things I see when I have my camera with me etc.

But first of all I collect friends or meetings with people, things they say and how they are…
I’m curios about life and nothing is too small to collect or save in my mind.

I wonder: Are you a collector? What are you collect and why?
What part do you have in the consumer society your in? Are you a consumer?
Is it possible not to be a consumer 2005?

For the moment I don’t know why I collect things, I just know that I always has collecting “good to have things”. But why??? I have no idea.
May be is it because it will reminds me of something, may be it’s because I think we all trough things away easily? May be it’s because it started my associations lines? May be it’s because that I feel happy of what I find? May be it’s because I’m thinking that without things I can’t remember? May be it’s because of who I’m or who I wanted to be?

I think we all are a part of the consumer society, even if we want or not. What we collect and what we buy is a question of where we live, what male we are, how old we are, who we want to be, how much money we have to spend, fashion etc.

I started this on – line project for two reasons; first I wanted to work with other jewellery artist around the world, second is that I’m curios how other jewellery artist think about the consumer society. And what we can do with this subject…


This is a perfect opportunity for me to do it, first to ask jewellery artist if they want to join this project and otherwise to see how other work with this subject; consumer society…
To have this on – line project is nice and interesting, because I and everyone can work alone and then share it with others on the internet…
Now when we got this blog, we easily can communicate with eight others and with people who isn’t in this project to!

The idea of some kind of on –line project started when I was in a workshop with Ruudt Peters in Ravenstein/ The Netherlands last summer: NOW CHAOS.
The subject was; hate materials.
Under the course we (or I) learned that it’s nothing as hate materials, because everything has the own potential if you find it out…

A critique sight (Marta)

my first broche with plastic ,paper of the wall and cristal

on-line jewellery project -Paula

Now I know how to do this... Later on everyone who is in this project! // paula

From Martina

Hi there,

Guess it's time to start sharing my thoughs. Now that Anni has made this arrangement it's getting serious business (thank you Anni, this was in fact just what I needed). Just like Pernille I first asked myself what my relationship is to this project as I am both a consumer and a producer. What I keep coming back to though is "me; as a maker".

There is a "creative boom" in Sweden right now. People are encouraged to be creative. "Do it yourself! Do redo! It's easy, it's inexpensive! " (Common slogans). Handicraft is popular. People love making stuff. I love making stuff too, and appriciate that handicraft is getting an upswing. But the trend says that the most important thing is to be creative and to create for whatever reason. What you create is of less importance or not important at all. I'm ambivalent towards all of this. It makes me revaluate my own work. I'm a creator and a producer but this creativeness-boom forces me to carefully consider what I put out into a world already stuffed with stuff. So, what can I do?